Cocaine smuggled in blood sausage nets six years in prison

A 39-year old Dutchman, Roy M., was sentenced to six years in prison in France for hiding large amounts of cocaine in blood sausages, newswire ANP reports. The court in Bordeaux determined that M., originally from Suriname, is the leader of an international criminal gang and was among ten suspects who stood trial. Despite the crew's alleged efforts to hide the cocaine in the large-scale drug trafficking scheme, French customs found the drugs in a shipment sent from the Carribean island of Martinique. In total, the authorities found more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine divided across two batches. The Dutch suspect, also known as the "Bellboy", was arrested in his hotel room in France with some of the cocaine in his possession, the court was told. He claimed to be only a messenger, but the French judge did not buy the argument. Martinique, part of the Lesser Antilles, is governed by France as an overseas region.